Four years ago Stephanie Dawn and her fiancé Louis Goodier decided to start living on their boat, Thumbsucker, at Davidson 28 (8.5 meters). They don’t quit their jobs, they live in the center of the city; But what does it mean to live in such a special apartment?
The first question is almost obvious: why did you choose to live on an 8.5 meter long boat?
We certainly didn’t start looking at very small boats as liveaboard options! When we decided to buy a yacht we had no sailing experience and little money, which somewhat limited our options. We came very close to buying a larger motorsailer which we thought was very suitable. She was 35 feet long and beautiful on the inside, which was a huge plus for us as would-be live-aboards, but in retrospect, she wouldn’t have been as seaworthy as Thumbsucker proved to be, and we never would have really learned to sail, which would have been a shame. We spent weeks negotiating and inspecting her out of the water, and even put down a 15% deposit. In the final stages we ran into complications trying to secure it and all failed. We went home completely heartbroken when we realized we had to get away from her as she was the last boat in that size and price range we could consider. We thought the last two years of planning, research, and saving had ended in failure.
The afternoon we said goodbye to our dream of living aboard, we searched online, almost jokingly, for the next size boats under 32 feet. We hadn’t even considered that it would be possible to live on a smaller ship. I remember we clicked on the Thumbsucker ad and we were all genuinely in awe of how spacious and well laid out it looked in the photos.
We drove to Auckland to see her the next day, and within 5 minutes on board we knew she was going to be our yacht. She bought it that afternoon. I wouldn’t say a small boat doesn’t have hers (many, MANY) challenges of hers, but in retrospect I’m very happy that all the larger, less suitable yachts we saw didn’t work after all.
You and your fiancé have full-time jobs. Is your free time completely devoted to Thumbsucker?
Essentially yes. When we’re not surfing Thumbsucker nights and weekends, we’re usually found sanding/painting/installing/upgrading something. The first years on board we dedicated to paying you, but since we finished we have focused our efforts on improving life on board. I’ve lost track of the work we’ve done, but some of the biggest jobs were:
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Plumbing of water tanks, replacement of pump taps with electric ones
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Reinstalling the old head with a new electric
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Reinstall all lights/electrical with LEDs
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Remove covers and cab top and repaint
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New carpet (the old one had a terrible time suffering under a foot of sea water for a week on our first trip up the coast)
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New carpet (again, the old ones didn’t fare very well on our test ride)
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Remove vinyl and horrible old glue from ceiling, sand and paint
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Removing vinyl from our bedrooms with a proper latex mattress (best decision/improvement ever)
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Sew custom sheets and duvet covers to fit our oddly shaped mattress. (I would recommend against trying this yourself if you, like us, are not good at sewing, get easily frustrated, and want to avoid having a furious marriage with your spouse)
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New cushions – again this makes a world of difference to the boat.
We also carry out all the usual maintenance such as antifoul, undercarriage replacement, engine oil change, cardan greasing, engine overhaul, etc. Right now we don’t have a fridge or kitchen bench as our current project is a new kitchen equipment. The sink can also only be used in the limit! Really looking forward to being able to cook things other than sandwiches again.
What do you like about life on board?
Many things! I love the freedom of owning our own home, no roommates, no landlords, no mortgage. I get a lot of satisfaction from doing our own home improvements the way we like. I also think we sail a lot more than we would if we lived in a house, there would always be some reason not to go down on the boat I think.
Living on board means that whenever the weather is good and we feel like sailing, we can be there, alone or with a group of friends, in an hour. During the summer, there’s no need to pack for a long trip, we just cast off and explore for two weeks!
Another interesting aspect is living in the center of the city for a fraction of the cost. We live right next door to multi-million dollar apartment blocks and share the exact same view and easy walk to town or work. We also live in a geologically scary area quite prone to earthquakes, so personally I always feel nice, safe and cozy on my little boat. In addition, we receive visits from penguins, dolphins and whales. There is nothing cooler than that!
Do you sometimes miss a “normal house”?
oh absolutely I often dream of the day when I don’t have to share laundry/shower/toilet facilities (and a reservation board) among a large community of people. There are nights I’ve fought my way home in 70-knot hurricane force winds and freezing rain, lugging 40,000 dry bags full of boating stuff, knowing I won’t sleep an eye before dawn.
These are the moments where I envy all my friends and family sleeping at home and wonder what the hell possessed me to do something so crazy! Sometimes it’s just the little things; Like wishing for once that I could drink wine from a nice glass instead of a heavy plastic container, or stabbing myself in the face with eyeliner while trying to get ready for work in rolling surf.
What are your favorite places to sail?
Most of our sailing has been in the Marlborough Sounds in the South Island and off the Coromandel Peninsula in the north. Some of my favorite places to sail are:
Ship Cove – one of New Zealand’s most beautiful cruising locations
Ship Cove: a marine sanctuary where the fish are so tame they climb up and eat out of your hands
Ship Cove – There is a short hike I like to do on land to a freshwater waterfall that you can drink and shower from.
Peachgrove and Coralie Bay on Great Mercury Island both look like postcards with glorious white sand squeaking between your toes. We have also seen killer whales and humpback whales a couple of times which is always fun.
Southeast bay on Major Island off the coast of Tauranga: The cliffs are largely made of obsidian glass, making them a deep black and very shiny in the sun. The water is deep but so clear that you can see every shell on the bottom of the sea 14 meters deep. Great swimming, but only if you don’t mind the stingrays. There are huge ones that live here that are used to being fed by yachts – it’s a bit alarming when you first jump in for a swim on arrival and a horde of huge stingrays are heading straight for you!
Our classic final question: what does “surfing” mean to you?
For thousands of years, navigation has had an enormous influence on the development of civilization. The first tools and technology that allowed us to harness the wind and fly across the oceans suddenly gave us the ability to travel great distances over the sea, feed ourselves and our communities with bigger fish, trade with other continents, wage wars, map the land, colonize faraway lands, and make fantastic scientific discoveries.
When I browse I feel connected to this story. I sail the same ocean, with the same winds, and take shelter in the same anchorages that Captain James Cook sailed to observe the transit of Mercury in 1769. Navigation was an instrumental element in the liberation of humanity. From being a race destined to live in one place scratching all its life in caves, we became world-exploring sailors. I think that for me ‘navigate’ ultimately means being free.